Back to the Future Again
by Suki59
Summary: Poor Eric is so devastated at the loss of Sookie that he invents a time-travel machine and sends Pam back in time to bring Sookie back to the future. Post Book 9.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: When Kitchycoo bought me at the Support Stacie Auction, I asked her what she had in mind for a story. She came up with the idea of a story in which Sookie sees how broken and devastated Eric would be when she dies and she realizes she loves him too much to allow that to happen. I gave her the choice of a dramatic and serious story in which Niall takes her to the fairy realm to see into the future or a silly parody of Back to the Future where Pam plays Doc and escorts Sookie through time. Kitchy liked the first choice, which resulted in A Diffferent Path. But of course, I couldn't seem to stop my little fanfic wheels from turning, and before I knew it, I was also writing the second choice. So, Kitchy, consider this a twofer special. Hope you like it.**

**Charlaine Harris owns these characters. I'm not sure who owns Back to the Future, but I know it's not me.**

It was like most nights. I had finished a long late shift at Merlotte's, soaked the ache from my feet and legs in the bath, and was snugly tucked into bed, waiting for my vampire. Eric and I had settled into a fairly normal routine since the whole fairy mess. My wounds had healed, the fairies had disappeared through the portal, and Eric and I had established a pretty serious romance. He usually came over after closing Fangtasia and spent some time with me before he had to be back in Shreveport for the break of dawn.

I was perfectly happy with our little routine, but Eric kept saying he wanted me to stay at his house in Shreveport some. I had never seen it and was a bit curious, but I was just fine at my own house and didn't really want to change things. Eric also kept saying that someday I'd have to make the decision about being turned. He wanted us to be together as a vampire couple, but the whole thing was just too completely weird for me to even think about it, and I told him so.

I was drifting in and out of sleep, kind of halfway listening for Eric's car in the driveway. I heard the motor but saw the flash from the headlights in my room, and wondered how that was possible since my window didn't face the driveway. I opened my eyes and sure enough, the room was filled with light from moving headlights. I jumped out of bed and looked out the window and couldn't believe my eyes. The Corvette was hovering above the grass, slowly being lowered to the ground like a spaceship. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but it was no illusion. The car finally settled on the lawn (and I hoped it wouldn't mess up the grass) and I watched the door open and Pam step out of the car. She stood and looked up to the house as if she'd never seen it before, then began walking around to the back door.

I threw on my robe and ran to the back porch to let her in, so many questions racing through my mind. She was beaming at me when I opened the door and invited her in. "Sookie! How lovely to see you! I have missed this old house and your sweet face!"

"Hi Pam. Um…actually, I just saw you last weekend at Fangtasia, remember?"

"Uhhh….no."

I turned on the kitchen light and offered her a True Blood, but she just wrinkled her nose and shook her head. She pulled two chairs out from the kitchen table and gestured for me to sit down as she sat in one. "You probably want to know why I just landed on your lawn like that, and may be wondering where I got these fabulous shoes." She stretched her legs out and admired her very odd footwear.

I just nodded, at a loss for words.

"Well, my master sent me to fetch you."

"He's not coming over tonight?"

"Well, I have no idea, actually. I don't really know what the date is, and really didn't keep up with his social calendar anyway. But, I'm here to fetch you to take you back to the future."

"Excuse me?"

"Eric has invented this time travel thingy that he installed in his old Corvette—I guess it was a good thing he held onto that old relic after all. All the science of it is really beyond me and of little interest, but I volunteered to be the first to travel back in time in it to fetch you. He wanted to come himself, but I convinced him that I would freak you out a lot less, plus there was less of a chance of me running into me here than him running into him. It's all too weird to explain—but I'm supposed to avoid myself at all costs—something about ripples in the time-space continuum and changing the future. Whatever."

"So, you're telling me that Eric sent you from the future to take me with you? I'm not there already?"

"Oh no, of course not. You were a big stubborn baby and wouldn't let Eric turn you and then went and got yourself killed in some stupid were war over in Hot Shot. You were trying to protect that stupid brother of yours and battled some really fat were bear. You actually kicked its ass, but when it died, it fell on top of you and smothered you with its big fat bear ass. It would have been funny if it weren't so tragic. Okay, maybe I did laugh a little, but not in front of anybody. Abby would have said it was in poor taste."

My mouth was hanging open and I couldn't think of a thing to say. Pam just shrugged.

"Anyway, Eric's been all heart-broken ever since. That's why he went to work inventing this time-travel thing-a-ma-bob. He wants you to come back with me and be with him in the future. If you won't let him turn you, the least you could do is pop back and forth through time to boink him once in awhile. The guy's just lonely."

She seemed to be through with her little speech, and stood. She took me by the hand and led me to my bedroom. "Okay, let's get you dressed. Believe it or not, jeans are still in style. They just never quit. So, pull on a pair and let's see…maybe just a plain sweater or something. Too bad these fabulous shoes haven't been invented yet." She pointed her toe and flexed her foot dramatically. "Oh well, just some tennies, I guess."

I got dressed in silence, still in shock from her story. I was trying to absorb all the information and couldn't get past the image of a fat bear lying across my face. Once I was fully dressed, Pam took me by the hand and led me out the back and around to the Corvette. I got settled in the passenger seat, pulling my seatbelt on while Pam sat in the driver's seat and fished a little plastic bag from her pants pocket. I finally found my voice to ask a question. "What are you doing?"

"I have to refuel the fucks capacitor."

"What?"

"The fucks capacitor. It's what makes this puppy fly through time. It's fueled by vampire semen." She pulled a used condom from the plastic bag and began to squeeze its contents into a little hole in the console between our seats. "I know, it's pretty gross. But what can I say—it's Eric invention."

I probably had a look of horror on my face. "_Fucks_ capacitor? Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, don't forget—he's the guy who named his bar Fangtasia." She rolled her eyes as the condom was emptied. She tucked it back into the baggie and into her pocket before turning the ignition. "Hang on to your boobies, girlfriend."

I thought she was making a joke, but she really did grab her breasts and so I did too. Suddenly the car seemed to jerk forward and was filled with blinding white light. We kind of bounced along and had I not been holding my breasts, they would have been bouncing up to my chin. Within a few seconds, the light diminished and we came to a stop. Pam and I both let our breasts go.

"Welcome to the future!" Pam beamed at me as she opened her door. We stepped from the car and faced a huge beautiful mansion.

Eric emerged from the front door with his arms open wide. He grabbed me and squeezed me so tightly, I had trouble breathing. He kept repeating my name and smothering me with kisses. He finally pulled back and smiled into my eyes. "You can't imagine how I've missed you, lover. How was your trip? Boobs okay?" He gave them a gentle squeeze. "I need to work out some kinks there. Didn't consider the effects of time travel on women's parts."

"I'm fine." I wondered when my brain would catch up to all this.

"Please come in!" Eric led me inside to an opulent and expansive living room. Pam excused herself to go "have a bite to eat" while Eric and I sat on the sofa. I looked around the room and there were framed photographs of me on every tabletop and some were mounted on the walls. Over the mantel hung a giant oil portrait of me standing on a windy bluff overlooking the ocean. I could make out the Fangtasia parking lot in the far background which was completely out of place. There was a huge bear skin rug in front of the fireplace. I looked back to Eric and he nodded. "I guess Pam told you how you died?"

"Yeah."

"He sure was a fat fucker." He seemed so solemn. "Anyway, ever since you died, I've been working on the idea of time travel so I could bring you back to the future to be with me. I know you never wanted to be turned, but surely you'll agree to at least an occasional visit with me here. I miss you so much, Sookie."

"Of course, Eric. I'm so sorry I went and got myself killed in that stupid were war. I guess I didn't really think about how my death would affect you, but I see now that you do miss me."

"Oh lover, some nights I just want to wait for the sun. It gets so hard sometimes. The only thing that's kept me going is my invention and the hope that it could bring you here to me. Every time I make a little fuel for it, I think of you."

"Uh…yeah."

"Speaking of which…" Eric waggled his eyebrows at me and stood with his hand out. I followed him up a huge flight of stairs to his bedroom where we made love like there was no tomorrow. Oh wait, does that make sense now? Anyway, it was spectacular.

We lay together in each other's arms and he talked about how miserable he'd been without me. I was so touched and overcome with emotion. I really had no idea that I had meant so much to Eric and felt really awful for leaving him all alone. I suggested he turn me so we could be together, but he said that would be impossible—something about a gap in the space-time continuum after my death. He said he'd be happy if I would just agree to come and visit, but I could never stay more than twenty-four hours at a time. He spouted more space-time mumbo-jumbo that I kind of ignored while my thoughts drifted to a new solution.

"Eric, what if I went back to the present—um, I mean to when Pam picked me up, and let you turn me then? Would that work?"

"I'll have to think about that, Sookie, but yes, nothing would make me happier. It might cause some sort of temporal tear in the fabric of time and I would certainly be without that rug in the living room, but I think it's worth a shot, don't you?"

We hugged and celebrated but not before rolling on a condom. I'd need some fuel to get back to the present. I had a new mission in life.


	2. Chapter 2

The following morning I woke and found Eric's shower. I dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen to get something to eat. Eric said I could take the Corvette into Shreveport to look around if I wanted to. I was very curious about what the future looked like. He left me a note on the kitchen counter not to forget the condom we'd filled the previous night to refuel the car and to help myself to a backpack full of money. Apparently, inflation had really kicked in and even the cheapest items cost a fortune here.

I pulled on my backpack and filled the fucks capacitor. Then switched the "time travel" switch to "off" and took off for the city, making sure to pay attention to the streets so I could find my way back. I parked in the center of town and got out to walk around. The stores looked different and the people were dressed a little differently. All the women seemed to have on shoes similar to Pam's and I got more than a few odd looks at my tennis shoes.

I did some shopping, but didn't buy anything. Eric said that I couldn't take anything invented after my former present time back or it would rip a hole in that time-space business. I didn't really know what that would mean or what would happen, but figured it was best not to mess with all that.

At lunch time, I got hungry and found a little café where I could sit and watch the people walk by. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of sweet tea for ten thousand dollars. I wasn't sure if that was a lot or not, but it was delicious.

I drove back to Eric's mansion and crawled into bed with him for a nap. I knew that I'd have to take off shortly after dusk, so I wanted to be there when he woke up so he could spend as much time with me as possible, plus I needed more fuel. It broke my heart how sad he had been in my absence and I made a mental note not to help Jason out in any were wars over in Hot Shot when I got back. And to avoid fat bears.

When Eric woke, we filled another condom, then went downstairs to get ready for me to go. Pam was waiting by the car with a brown paper bag. "I knew you wouldn't have time to eat any dinner, so I packed you a little something." She winked at me as I got into the driver's seat.

I emptied the condom into the fucks capacitor (and wished I'd thought to bring a wet-nap with me), switched the time travel button back to the "on" position, and tossed my bag lunch onto the passenger seat. Eric leaned in and gave me a kiss and told me he loved me before closing the door. Then he stepped back and watched me turn the ignition. "Hold on to your boobs, lover." And then I was off.

When I landed, I knew something was wrong. For one thing, it was daylight, and I had left at night. I recognized that I was behind the tool shed at my house, but things looked different. The trees were different; the shed looked newer. I started to worry. I opened my door and was immediately hit with a feeling of dread when I saw the feet sticking out from under the car. Apparently, I had landed on a man and he was quite dead. His feet stuck out like the witch's in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy's house landed on the wicked witch. Uh oh.

I heard a noise and saw a little girl running away from me into the woods. I knew in an instant what was going on. That little girl was me and the man under my car was Uncle Bartlett. Uh oh again.

Apparently, I had landed back in time when I was a child. Pam said it was a very bad thing for her to see herself or for Eric to see himself, so I was willing to bet that I shouldn't be seeing myself running through the woods like that. And I knew that this was the first time that Uncle Bartlett had chased me and actually caught me and I also knew that this meant that he wasn't going to hurt me—not this time and not any other time because he was road kill under Eric's time machine now. So much for not changing the time-space continuum. Oops.

I got back into the car and tried to start it but it was dead. Dang. Out of fuel. Not knowing what else to do and feeling a little hungry, I opened the paper bag beside me to see what Pam had packed me for dinner. It was then that I started to suspect what had gone wrong. There was no dinner in that bag, but a pair of those very strange futuristic shoes. I pictured Pam smiling as she planned to sneak them into the car as a present. Her heart was in the right place, but she may have just caused a rift in the fabric of time or some such thing. Oops again. That must be why I'd landed in the wrong year.

I got out and assessed my situation. The first thing I needed to do was hide the car and get rid of Uncle Bartlett. I pushed the car a little further behind the tool shed so it wouldn't be seen from the house. I found a shovel in the shed and went into the woods to start digging.

Once Uncle Bartlett was six feet under, the sun was starting to set and I knew I needed to find Eric. I took off down the driveway towards Hummingbird Lane. I had only been walking for about twenty minutes when a car pulled up behind me and stopped. I turned around and immediately recognized it, of course. My breath caught in my throat as a younger-than-I-remembered Gran stepped out, smiling at me. "A young girl like you shouldn't be out here alone. Do you need a ride?"

"Oh, yes. That would be great." I wasn't sure if it was the smartest thing to do, but I couldn't resist a chance to spend even another hour with her. Suddenly, I understood how Eric must have felt when he saw me alive after grieving my death. I resisted the urge to hug and kiss her, but instead just got into the car and thanked her for the ride.

She was dressed up in a pretty suit and said she was meeting a friend in Shreveport. I wondered if it was Fintan, of course, but couldn't exactly ask her. I told her my name was Pam Ravenscroft. I knew that she wouldn't know the name because vampires were still in the coffin. Then I wondered how hard it was going to be to get Eric to help me without killing me. I needed his…um…fuel to start the Corvette and I only knew one way to obtain it. I had a sudden thought as we were passing through downtown Shreveport.

"Um, I hate to ask you this, Gran…um...I mean you grand lady, but I need to stop at a drugstore for a minute."

"Not a problem, sweetie."

As we pulled into the parking lot, I also realized that I had absolutely no money.

"Gosh, I am so embarrassed to ask you this, but could I borrow some money? I need to buy something…um…personal, and I don't have my purse with me. I'm also not sure if or when I can pay you back."

She didn't even bat an eye, but pulled her wallet from her purse and handed it to me. She was something else.

I handed the cashier the condoms but just couldn't afford to be embarrassed about it. I removed them from the box and tucked them into my pocket before tossing the box and paper bag into the trash by the front door.

When Gran dropped me at Eric's, she seemed to hesitate. "Are you sure this is the house? It looks abandoned."

"I'm sure. Don't worry. They're expecting me."

She drove away and I wiped the tear from my cheek as I watched her disappear down the road. Then I turned to the mansion, wondering how I was going to get what I wanted and then get out alive.


	3. Chapter 3

I decided to just take the bull by the horns and walked up and knocked on the front door. I waited and waited but there was no answer. The house was dark and spooky-looking—nothing like the opulent mansion I'd visited in the future. I hoped that Eric owned the house in this particular year. I began walking around and peering into the windows. Everything was dark and filthy-looking. I hoped that Eric just wanted it to appear abandoned and that it wasn't indeed empty.

I jiggled all the windows, and found one open in the back. I was surprised that he'd be so sloppy and leave one unlocked, but then again, what fool would try to enter this creepy old house. Maybe just the kind of fool I was. The kind desperate to get vampire semen so she could get back to the future again. Jeeze, this was nuts.

I silently cursed myself for not making a little extra fuel before I left Eric back in the future, but then who would have thought that anything could possibly go wrong?

I tumbled into the living room which was full of furniture covered with dusty sheets. I tried turning on a light, but there was apparently no electricity. I guess he wouldn't need any really, but I found it kind of sad that he might live here in this dirt with no light or warmth. There was enough moonlight for me to see well enough to not trip over anything. I called out his name.

In an instant, he was standing in front of me, using his vampire speed. He stopped and hissed at me and my heart raced in spite of myself. He was one scary monster. I held my hands up in surrender and spoke his name again, but before I could get another word out, he was on me, his mouth open, ready to pierce the skin of my neck. I let out a tiny scream, afraid it would be the last sound I made, but as quickly as he'd attacked me, he let me go and took a step back. His mouth was open, his fangs down, and a drop of pink drool dripped from one as he stared at me with an intensity I'd rarely witnessed. "You smell of me." His eyes positively glowed. "I feel you."

I took a deep breath, relieved that he hadn't just snapped my neck. "I am yours."

"Explain."

"We're bonded." I held my wrist out, my hand visibly shaking. He raised it to his mouth and made a tiny puncture wound in the soft flesh, licking it closed with his tongue.

"So we are." He continued to study me with that intense stare.

"Pam sent me."

"Go on."

"This part is going to sound crazy, but I'm from the future." No response. "You have designed a time travel machine and Pam came to get me, but when you sent me back to the past, she made a mistake and I ended up in the wrong year." He cocked his head. "I told you it might sound crazy."

"I designed a time travel machine." He weighed each word carefully. His fangs had retracted. I breathed a little easier.

"Yes. In the future. You missed me because I was dead and made this travel thingy to fetch me from the past for conjugal visits. I'm your bonded. You really love me." His eyes traveled down my body.

"I see."

"So, please don't kill me. I need to get back to the present, or I guess the future from your perspective. Anyway, I need your help to get back, and trust me, you're going to be very upset if I don't show up back there."

"Why do you need my help?"

"Uh…well, you see, you designed the travel machine to run on…um…vampire semen."

His mouth twitched, trying to suppress a smile. "Did I now?"

"Yeah, it goes into the fucks capacitor. You really shouldn't be in charge of naming things, by the way. Make a note of that. Anyway, I need…well…some fuel for the…you know—fuck thingy. Now, I know from your point of view, we just met and all…" He was on me, his tongue in my mouth, hands everywhere, erection pressed into me. I couldn't help but respond. In any decade, the man was a master at kissing. He swept me off my feet and carried me Rhett Butler style up the stairs. I was relieved to find myself deposited onto a clean bed in a relatively clean room, even though it was still too dark to see much detail. But it wasn't quite as gross as the living room.

He pulled my sweater over my head and unhooked my bra, sucking a nipple into his mouth. I felt his fangs scrape me and moaned. I reached down and unzipped his fly, very happy to find the Gracious Plenty ready for action. I helped him with my shoes, jeans and panties before he pulled his own clothes off with vampire speed. We were all over each other in a naked tangled horny mess, licking and stroking and humping, and just as he was ready to enter me, I sat up and called out, "Wait!"

He looked at me like I'd lost my mind as I scrambled onto the floor to get the condoms out of my jeans pocket. "I have to have the semen to start the car."

He just blinked at me blankly until I took the initiative and rolled it on. Once he was all wrapped up and ready to go, we went at it like…well…like a horny vampire and his even hornier girlfriend from the future. Yes, my main goal was to get the…um…fuel, but I really didn't see the harm in my having an orgasm or two while we were at it. As he bit my breast, I reminded him not to drain me dry. It would be such bad luck for him to kill me after I'd already gone to all this trouble.

Afterwards, I carefully removed the condom and asked him if he had any ziplock bags. He didn't even bother to answer me and so I tied the end of the condom in a knot and stuffed it into my jeans pocket. I also asked if I could wash my hands, but got the same look. Of course the house had no running water. I was so glad I didn't need to pee, and so I cuddled into Eric's arms and told him all about us. He listened mostly, but occasionally asked a question or two. He seemed to find the whole story quite fascinating.

I started to get sleepy, and asked him if he could fly me down to Bon Temps so I could get going. We dressed and he wrapped his arms around me before we took to the sky. I directed him to my house and we found the Corvette undisturbed behind the garage.

Eric admired the car while I filled the little tank with his love juice. I wiped my now really disgusting fingers on my jeans after sticking the empty condom back into my pocket. I was about to turn to say good-bye when I spotted the paper bag with the shoes in it on the passenger seat and remembered that I couldn't take them with me. I also didn't want to just leave them behind, not knowing what effect that might have on the future.

I sent Eric into the shed to retrieve the shovel and he and I buried the shoes behind the shed. After he returned the shovel, he came back to the car and said that he saw a little girl watching him from an upstairs window. "Don't worry, I'll glamor her."

"Oh, you can't."

"Then I'll just kill her."

"No, Eric. That's me." He looked at me wide-eyed. "You can't glamor her because of my telepathy and you'll be real upset if you kill your future wife before she even hits puberty. Just let it go. Even if I tell anybody what I saw, no one will believe me. They all think I'm crazy anyway."

Eric touched my face and in an uncharacteristically sweet voice (at least for the Eric in this particular era) said, "I can see why I found you to be so special. Or, will find you. Well, I guess I do find you…"

"Don't sweat it, Eric. You'll drive yourself crazy with the tense stuff. I know what you mean."

I grabbed him and kissed him for all I was worth before climbing into the car. I turned on the ignition and grabbed my boobs and looked back to him. He raised his eyebrows in amusement and then I was gone in a bright white blur, bouncing back to the future again.


	4. Chapter 4

My boobs bounced along for a few seconds and then the car stopped and I looked around. I was back in my yard in Bon Temps, and everything looked fairly normal. It was nighttime at least. I got out and looked up at the house. There were lights on upstairs and in the kitchen. I heard the back screen door slam shut and Jason emerged from the back of the house, grinning.

"What the fuck?"

"Hey, Jason. What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? Are you kidding me? You just landed a Vette in the yard like a fucking spaceship and you want to know what_ I'm_ doing here?"

"Yeah."

"I live here, bonehead."

"Help me get this behind the tool shed and I'll explain everything."

We pushed the car to its hiding place and then Jason turned to me, ready for an explanation.

"Can you give me a ride into Shreveport? I can explain in the car."

"Sure, let me get my keys and tell Tara where I'm going."

My mouth fell open. Tara?

Jason met me behind the house and we climbed into a shiny new Mercedes that I'd never seen before. As we pulled onto Hummingbird Lane, I started to tell my story. He listened and gave me an occasional look, but didn't say anything until I was finished. "I know that must all sound crazy to you, Jason, but trust me, it's the truth."

"Oh, I don't doubt it. Not much coming out of you surprises me anymore."

"So, you want to explain to me why Tara was in my house back there?"

"Uh, that's our house, Sookie. Me and Tara and the kids live there—have for years."

"Then where do I live?"

"With Eric, in that big-ass fancy mansion in Shreveport."

"Really? I have a feeling that some things may have changed, maybe because of the time travel. Maybe you'd better fill me in on what's going on. Oh, and whatever you do, don't take me to Hot Shot."

"Hot Shot? What the fuck would I take you there for?"

"To fight some were war—you know because you're a were panther."

"Fuck, Sookie, those people are nasty out there. Were panther? You are nuts."

"Okay, so you're not a were…um…what are you?"

"The CEO of Stackhouse Shoes. Husband, father, brother to a nutjob." He chuckled. "Were panther. That's pretty funny."

"Stackhouse Shoes?"

"Your shoe company."

"I have a shoe company?"

"Yeah, you started it right out of high school. Said the design idea was buried in the yard by a flying handsome blond guy. We all thought you were a whack-job until we met Eric Northman—the flying guy you'd described to a tee all your life.

"None of this is ringing a bell for you?"

"No, but please go on."

"With the first pile of money you made, you sent me to business school so I could help you run the company. That was right before me and Tara got married. It turned out that I wasn't a dumb promiscuous jock like everyone expected me to be after all. Thanks to your faith in me and the proceeds from your ahead-of-its-time shoe design, we all discovered that I'm a genius in business and a faithful loving husband with no inclinations whatsoever to chasing loose panther-y chicks that might have trapped me into marriage with unplanned pregnancies. I'm a fine, upstanding citizen but still really, really handsome."

"Huh. How about that."

"Yeah, so anyway, Bill Compton and that Sophie-Anne bitch tried to take you to New Orleans, but you'd have none of that. Apparently, Hadley told them about your telepathy just before the queen turned her and declared her to be her true love and made her happy and certain of a bright future. You forgave Hadley, but told Bill Compton to kiss your telepathic ass. Even a smooth-talking vampire like Bill couldn't get your knees apart. You'd always sworn you were saving yourself for the flying guy, and then I'll be damned if he didn't turn out to be Eric. As soon as you guys met, you were all lovey-dovey."

"I met him at Fangtasia?"

"What?"

"His vampire bar."

"Oh you mean Ravenscroft's House of Blood? It's Eric's bar, but I guess he let Pam name it."

"Really. Well, that's good." (Although I really didn't think she'd done much better.)

"Yeah, so even though he has that successful bar, he basically has kicked ass in the vamp political world with you at his side. Sophie-Anne married the king of Arkansas or Texas or something (but still loves Hadley and treats her great) and gave Louisiana to Eric.

"He and Pam basically run the state from that big old house in Shreveport where you guys live."

"I didn't date Bill?"

"Date Bill? Fuck no. You wouldn't take any shit from any guy, Sookie. You always knew what you wanted and that was Eric Northman, your bonded. A zillion other guys asked you out, valuing you for your telepathy and brain and remarkably innovative ability to design shoes as well as your impressive rack, but you saved yourself for Eric."

I hated to ask, but knew I had to. "And, Gran?"

"Oh, she died peacefully in her sleep at a ripe old age, but not before giving her blessings for you to be with Eric. When you told her you met him at Ravenscroft's' House of Blood, she went on and on about what a sweet girl that Pam Ravenscroft was and encouraged you to hang out at the bar all you wanted. We never could figure out where she would have met Pam though." He shrugged his shoulders.

As we drove up the driveway in front of Eric's house—I guess now my house, I asked Jason to go back and cover the Corvette with a tarp or something until we could figure out what to do with it. I thanked him for the ride and for filling me in on what was now apparently my life. He was surprisingly not very shocked at my story. I guess after hearing about my future shoe business and flying husband all his life, not much could surprise him anymore.

I walked up to the front door as Jason drove away and knocked. Eric opened the door. "Did you forget your keys, lover?"

"Kind of." I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the lips.

"So, you're not mad anymore?"

"Was I mad?"

"Oh yeah."

"Indulge me for a minute, okay? I've had a rough day. Why was I mad?"

"The usual reason. We had another fight about your being turned. Are you okay? You don't remember?"

"No. Do you have a minute?"

"Of course."

Eric led me into the house which was decorated beautifully. I loved it, but apparently it was my house, so that made sense. He seemed concerned about me as we sat on the sofa. The painting above the mantel was a portrait of the two of us together. I started at the beginning and told him the whole story—about Pam coming to get me and my traveling to the future where he mourned my death, then about accidentally going back a little too far in time and screwing things up with the shoes, apparently changing my own future as well as everyone else's. Eric listened intently, never interrupting me. When I was finished, he sat back and studied my face. "This must all be rather overwhelming for you, lover. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little tired. And hungry. And my boobs are a kinda sore. And, god, I'd love to wash my hands."

"Do you want something to eat? I'll call for some dinner for you."

"Actually, no, I can wait. What I don't want to wait about anymore is to tell you that I want to be turned." His eyes glowed. "I'm not sure what to make of all this time travel stuff, but what I do know is that I don't want you to pine away for me for eternity because some big bear's butt smothered me. Or for any other reason, actually. I see now that we belong together, no matter what the circumstances. I love you, Eric, and I don't want us to be apart."

Eric touched my face. "My beautiful bonded. You have just made me the happiest man on earth. I have waited for many years to hear those words coming from your mouth. When will you honor me with your gift?"

We both smiled and clasped hands. I felt our hearts connect through the bond as I gave him my answer. "There's no time like the present." And then we rose to climb the stairs to face a future together—a future with no limits, no loneliness, and no fat-butted bear skin rugs.

As we neared our bedroom, Eric turned to me with a puzzled expression. "Lover, I said that you couldn't take anything that hadn't been invented yet back into the past, right?"

"Yeah."

"And we think that the shoes that Pam sent back with you were the cause of the tear in the fabric of time?"

"Yeah."

"So, if the shoes caused all these changes, what will happen now that there's an uninvented time machine behind your brother's tool shed right now?"

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh is right. Lover, it looks like you may have to go back to the future again." Dang it. I hate it when he's right.

[Cue the Huey Lewis music…]

XXX

**A/N: Please enjoy the sequel, Back to the Past, next.**


End file.
